There is a small roadside waterfall on your way up from Jvari towards Mestia, Upper Svaneti, which I always notice as I go by. I first photographed it in about 2000, in autumn, and find it the most beautiful waterfall in all of Georgia, in my subjective opinion of course. It’s a bit before or below the popular food stop village of Barjashi.
In winter, the flow will be minimal, but late in the season snow will have fallen and transformed the scene, possibly with icicles if it gets cold enough this low-down in altitude. In spring, which is when my last couple of photographic attempts are from, there will be a much greater run of water (it might well even be raining, plus there’s snow melt from above). Mist, too, might feature.
I set my camera’s ISO (light sensitivity) to 100, the lowest it allows, and take the aperture (which lets in light) to its largest number, which paradoxically means smallest hole. This forces the shutter speed to be as slow as possible, about 1/2 second hand-held. Any slower would require a tripod to eliminate camera shake, and would also need a neutral density filter on the lens to uniformly block a portion of light, allowing a shutter speed of from, say, 1 to 30 seconds or even longer. But 1/2 second is enough to blur the falling water into gently curved lines, something the eye can’t see directly. Magic begins.
A few weeks ago, I included a foreground rock and used my 18-55mm “kit” lens. The gently mist was a nice atmospheric element, but the foreground rock wasn’t ideal. My last attempt, from just a few days ago, didn’t have the mist. But I stood even closer to the waterfall, and used my widest lens, 10-18mm. This shot was taken in light rain, and a couple of raindrops on the lens I later removed in post-processing. I prefer the position of this shot to the previous one. Both I converted to black and white, lightening the green foliage to nearly white.
I think the next thing I want to try is to get higher than I can from the ground, say, on a small ladder. I also want to make the shot even slower than 1/2 second, which will necessitate the filter and tripod. A bit of bother, but likely to be worth it.
This is all to say that, with a subject only slightly changing, such as a waterfall, you can keep going back, trying different approaches both in making the shot and in processing it afterwards. Another thing I might try is a night shot, lit by moonlight or starlight instead of a sunlit one, which would also naturally lengthen the shooting time. (I might also light these night versions with artificial light, from an unusual angle.) Still or windy weather (keeping the leaves relatively still or blowing them into blurs) are other variations; as is the necessary cold, snowy, icy winter version. Also, different lenses, and thus different distances from the subject. LOTS of variations.
Considering all these possibilities, and trying them as time allows, lets me make small steps towards what will be one or more “ideal” versions of the scene. Not yet satisfied, but moving in the right direction. I’ll likely convert every attempt to black and white, so that color won’t distract.
What waterfall is YOUR favorite one in Georgia? Is it easily accessible, or not? Busy or not? (This one can have many people stopped at it, simply because of being visible right from the road, with no hike necessary to reach it.) Enjoy.
Blog by Tony Hanmer
Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti
